This was probably my favorite project of all and unfortunately it didn’t get as incorporated into my wedding as I had wished. 😦

Handmade Quilted Lettered Wedding Banner (photo by Veronica Perez)

And, unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of photos of it either. 😦

This handmade banner features the names of the bride and groom and can be hung above your reception, the entryway, by your head table — wherever you want some personalization. It is made out of fabric and the letters are hand-cut, quilted, and sewn with ribbons to be tied onto something like lights or a rope or wire.

Supplies I used:

Fabric in your wedding color(s)

Coordinating ribbon — 1/8″ – 1/2″ ( and a lot of it!)

Computer/printer (or stencils)

Paper

Pins

Scissors

The first step is to choose a font (if you’re using a stencil, skip this). I chose an Art Deco font called “Market Deco.” You do not want a font with a lot of flourishes or stylizations, thus the reason I didn’t use an Art Nouveau font. The reason for this is that you will be cutting the letters out of fabric and will be difficult or it won’t work for a font that’s too fancy. After you choose your font, enlarge it to the biggest size that will fit on the page and then type in your names and print out, ensuring that there is one letter per page.

Next, cut the letters out of the paper to make your patterns and pin them on your selected fabric(s), making sure that you cut two pieces of fabric per letter. If you’re using thin fabrics, you may want to out an extra piece or use a thicker fabric for filler.

Then, pin the edges of the fabric pieces together and sew. I sewed mine first, going around each edge and in the middle (like a letter with an opening — ie. “A”, “O”, “P”) and then I did a zig-zag stitch around each edge as well.

Next, I cut pieces of ribbon (mine were about a foot long), folded it in half and sewed the center of the ribbon to the top of the letter. For a letter like an “N”, it needed two ribbon pieces.

And voila! You’re ready to hang these at your wedding!

Handmade lettered wedding banner (photo by Nubia Gonzalez)

(I apologize that there aren’t photos of the creation process — I was very busy with wedding planning at the time I made these and didn’t stop to take photos. Also, our photographer missed taking pics of these……)

I also made a “Just Married” banner for our getaway car. Unfortunately, in the chaos that was our wedding preparations (we had about 20 friends running around decorating and setting up for our wedding), this did not get put on our car. My bridesmaids made their own — which was nice, but I would have preferred this banner to be used…..

Handmade "Just Married" banner

Anyway, this banner was made to be tied on the back of a car, with very long ribbon ends that were meant to wrap around the back window, through the doors into the backseat and then tied. This way, there wouldn’t be any harm done to the car with chemicals or tape.

This banner uses the same materials and concept as the name banner, with the exception that the letters are all sewn on to long ribbon pieces. I also made a heart out of a freehand drawn pattern. My banner was made in two pieces, with each word on it’s long ribbon length.

Handmade fabric heart

I ended up selling this on etsy as I had no use for it, and the bride intended on tying it to a trolley as a prop for her wedding photos.